Video News Release 22: SN1987A's Twentieth Anniversary (eso0708)

Looking back at 20 Years of Observations of this Supernova with ESO telescopes

The unique supernova SN 1987A has been a bonanza for astrophysicists. It provided several observational ‘firsts’, like the detection of neutrinos from an exploding star, the observation of the progenitor star on archival photographic plates, the signatures of a non-spherical explosion, the direct observation of the radioactive elements produced during the blast, observation of the formation of dust in the supernova, as well as the detection of circumstellar and interstellar material. The footage available include images of the supernova taken in the past, as well as the most recent one obtained with ESO’s Very Large Telescope, and images of the La Silla and Paranal Observatories. A breathtaking sequence that zooms-in from the Large Magellanic Cloud into the supernova is also available.

This Video News Release is targeted especially at broadcasters for further editing. In order to keep the audio tracks editable, different sound information has been recorded on two separate tracks at optimal volumes as is common standard in professional post production. This video is not meant for on screen viewing — on ESOcasts are better suited for that.